John Newton Amazing Grace, Part 2

John Newton experienced a heart-changing event in 1748, while returning on a ship to England. When the vessel nearly sank, he cried out to God for mercy. It was a turning point in his life. But he was still involved in the slave trade and eventually captained slave ships. During this time, he married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Catlett, in 1750. The couple adopted two orphaned nieces.

In 1754, John suffered a major stroke and had to give up his seafaring and slave-trading activities, though he still invested in slaving operations. God continued to work on Newton’s heart and he eventually became a clergyman.

Eventually, John Newton not only became involved in the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, but wrote a pamphlet titled Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade. He described the horrific conditions on slave ships and then apologized for participating in the trade. “It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.”

People struggling with faith would often seek his advice—including the young William Wilberforce, a Member of Parliament. Wilberforce’s recent conversion led him to contemplate leaving politics, but Newton encouraged him to stay in Parliament and “serve God where he was.” As an ally with Wilberforce, he worked against slavery and lived to see the passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807.

John Newton later made this confession of faith: “It is certain that I am not what I ought to be. But, blessed be God, I am not what I once was. God has mercifully brought me up out of the deep miry clay and set my feet upon the Rock, Christ Jesus.”

In 1767, the poet William Cowper began attending Newton’s church. Cowper and Newton worked together to create great hymns for the church, including “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken.” But the greatest contribution Newton gave to the church was a hymn that captured his own conversion story. It reads,

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

Reflect: Find and read (or sing) the lyrics to the hymn, “Amazing Grace.” As you go through the words, remember, Jesus died personally for you!

Key Bible Texts

But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 KJV)